The Labyrinth
A typical delve into the dungeon.
"You step into the cave; the darkness envelops you in an instant. The light from outside is welcoming, but people don't become famous explorers for staying home. You take a moment to process your surroundings - intermittent drops of water and the occasional slight wind from outside is all that meets your ears.
You elected to bring Vulpix with you, who is beginning to emit her usual warm glow. After a few moments, the light is sufficient to examine your surroundings. The chill air, too, begins to dissipate; offset by the warmth of the drought effect. The cave is steeped with small pools and streams; almost appearing to be a countryside in miniature. The pools are filled with such Pokémon as Wooper - quite small, as of yet, and not quite old enough for catching.
Your reverie is broken by the sound of grating stone and steel in the darkness; just outside of Vulpix's light. Mawile jumps, startled. The noise echoes in all directions, and a flock of Zubat flee overhead as the stone of the walls themselves seemingly rise in menace. Torterra is caught with its back turned, it takes it a moment or two for it to bring its substantial bulk around to meet the newcomer. By the time it does, the source of the clamor is readily apparent. A glint of metal runs across a pair of protruding horns that tower above you, and jagged iron jaws gnash as a powerful, plated tail swashes from side to side..."
Overview
The Labyrinth is a roleplay experience suitable for one to three players, or Explorers. The Explorers delve the depths of forgotten caves and ruined buildings, searching for excitement outside of the typical arena setting.
Most of these locations have gone years - sometimes even centuries - without any sort of human contact. The Pokémon found within are feral or wild; they will fight if pressed, or ordered to, but will often trade only a few blows before retreating. The real draw of a Labyrinth isn't the fighting, but the exploration of the unknown and the unraveling of its mysteries.
The Labyrinth is run by a
Keeper; a sort of storyteller equivalent of a Referee. They describe the sights, sounds, and smells apparent to the Explorers. Depending on the dungeon and the Keeper, there may be a separate Referee who handles any combat encounters that may occur. The same Referee need not handle all of the combats in a dungeon session, or even all of the rounds of an encounter. A dungeon delve very well could have a different referee for each round of combat if there's enough time between them; it's mostly a matter of the availability of referees at the time of a post. A Keeper might even pop into IRC to ask for a quick ref. Of course, the Keeper and Referee could be one and the same for simplicity's sake.
A
dungeon, or specific location and setting for the Labyrinth, contains many denizens. Most of the time, a dungeon will have
Lackeys, a pair of
Midbosses, and a
Boss. Lackeys are generally not fully evolved, and represent the bulk of the local population - a Lackey Sandshrew, for example, will likely be more interested in cactus fruit than in picking a fight with the Explorers. Midbosses, however, are often represented by hostile Pokémon such as Zweilous and Houndoom. These Pokémon will actively bully or outright attack intruders - although, "intruders" can mean anyone, not just Explorers. Lastly, every dungeon will have a powerful Boss Pokémon - this Pokémon will be fair stronger than normal, and will quite often be too much for the Explorers to handle. The decision to stand and fight an unleashed Boss, or take what she can and run, will often be the most important decision a player makes in the Labyrinth.
Mechanics
Illumination and Party Building
The primary restriction in the Labyrinth is
illumination - the radius in which an Explorer can see. Each player has a radius of light, based on which Pokémon they brought to the dungeon. Any tile outside of all light radii will be completely obscured, even if the players were able to see it previously. Each round, an Explorer may move to any space that they can see a route to. If other Explorers' lights overlap with a player's radius, that player may move across overlapping light radii. As long as there is a direct visible route from the player's space to the desired destination, a player may move there.
A player may bring specific types or species of Pokémon to enhance their light radius, to a maximum of 5 tiles. For each
Fire or
Electric Pokémon a player brings, their light radius is increased by 1. In addition, the following Pokémon increase the light radius by 1 tile, in addition to any bonus for their type:
- Volcarona
- Ampharos
- Lanturn
- Starmie
- Volbeat
- Espeon
- Ninetales
As for other Pokémon, someone who can force doors and handle other obstacles is ideal. A Pokémon with a powerful Attack stat and significant physical heft is welcome, though not necessary, for dealing with such impediments. Note that an amount of bulk is often needed; Absol and Rhydon may have the same Rank in Attack, but Rhydon has more than enough weight to move large boulders or open stuck containers.
A Pokémon that functions well in darkness might also be considered for a spot on an Explorer's team. Such a Pokémon might notice other Pokémon, traps, doors, passages, and other things just outside of the light that an Explorer might otherwise miss.
Each Explorer may bring up to three Pokémon, and up to three Explorers may enter a given dungeon at the same time. Explorers are encouraged to discuss plans of action amongst themselves; splitting up and regrouping to handle specific challenges, and coming to each others' aid if one of the Explorers finds themselves outmatched. A Keeper should allow Pokémon as long as they are roughly the same power as each other - Explorers bringing a Kadabra, a Machoke, and a Lairon is permissable. A party with a Combee, a Beldum, and a Hydreigon is suspect at best. Under no circumstance should one player do all of the work.
Obstacles and Turn Structure
Each
turn in a Labyrinth game is handled in the same way; as a repeating structure that iterates until either all Explorers exit the dungeon, or all Explorers' Pokémon are fainted.
- The Keeper takes a screenshot of the dungeon, as the Explorers see it. The Keeper describes what the players see; and asks for the players' actions. It's assumed that the Explorers have a means of communication, such as radios or phones, and that any information they find is public to all Explorers.
- The players post their actions for the turn. For their turn, a player may (1) move to a tile they can see a path to; (2) Give a round's worth of combat orders (three actions, with substitutions as appropriate) to their Pokémon, targeting themselves, allies, or any foe they can see a path to; (3) Interact with an environmental object (order a Nidoking to break down a door, fiddle with a stone panel, search a room, and so on); or (4) Take one of their three rests, restoring a measure of HP and Energy to their Pokémon.
- The Keeper handles combat actions first. NPC Pokémon always take their actions second - Lackeys often make obvious mistakes, such as using Magnetude on Flying-types; but Midbosses and Bosses will deliberately pick their moves to counter opponents' strategies.
- The Keeper may ref the combat rounds; or she may find a Referee to ref the rounds for her, at her option. Either way, the results are given to the Keeper in a text file or by another medium to be added to the post.
- The Keeper moves any moving players on the dungeon map, by typing their new coordinates into the spreadsheet. Their light radius is moved with them automatically; the Keeper should describe what the player now sees and hears.
- The Keeper then describes the results of any interactions (success or failure to break a door, etc). If an interaction specifically released the Boss, make sure every player experiences an ominous and unsettling event to warn them. They might feel a sharp spike in temperature, hear a distant roar, or smell an overpowering order. At any rate, it should be very clear that they are in imminent danger.
- Players whose Explorers are resting restore 10 HP and 5% Energy to all of their Pokémon. Any effects that apply to a Chill, such as Regenerator, also apply to this action.
- The Keeper makes a results post, detailing the effects of the above actions. It should contain any content reffing, along with a large helping of flavor, in or out of battle.
- The players have a time to coordinate their actions; posting their plans and asking for help from other players. Encourage the players to cooperate.
- The Keeper takes a screenshot of the dungeon, posts it, notes their observations, and calls for actions, as in Step 1. All steps repeat until the dungeon delve is over.
A dungeon delve ends when all Explorers' Pokémon are fainted, or when all Explorers successfully exit the dungeon. In the event of a party wipe; the Explorers are forcably ejected from the dungeon as unwanted intruders. They receive a bare minimum reward, or even nothing at all if their delve was short enough. If the Explorers leave on their own, they are rewarded based on how much they accomplished.
The rewards for leaving should reflect what they accomplished in the Labyrinth. Walking in with a Machamp and DynamicPunching a couple of Arons is hardly worth anything; walking in with a Beldum and soloing a Hydreigon is worth a ludicrous reward. Beating a Volcarona with a Rampardos is worth less than beating a Volcarona with a Leavanny. The Keeper should award a small bonus for players that stay exceptionally within character - the more entertaining the character, the better the bonus.
Rewards are given in
Labyrinth Marks. Generally, defeating three evenly-matched Lackies is worth one Labyrinth Mark. Defeating a Midboss should take all three of an Explorer's Pokémon, and should be worth two Labyrinth Marks. Defeating a Boss should take all of the Explorers' combined efforts, and should be worth five Labyrinth Marks. A bonus for staying in-character should be no more than one or two Labyrinth Marks.
If the Explorers are vastly overprepared for a challenge (like the previous Rampardos vs. Volcarona example), it is worth less Labyrinth Marks than normal; likewise, if the Explorers are at a strong disadvantage, a challenge is worth more. As a rule of thumb; a reward should be changed by no more than 50% of its standard value. A Midboss should yield between 1 to 3 Labyrinth Marks, and a Boss should yield between 3 and 7.
Explorers who let all of their Pokémon faint are
denied any Labyrinth Marks. This is important - one of the key skills in the Labyrinth is knowing your limits. The wisest Explorers know how to balance risk and reward; withdrawing from the dungeon as they hit their total capacity. A foolish Explorer loses their entire haul to a single gambled fight; and a cowardly Explorer never makes nearly enough Labyrinth Marks for it to be worth his time.
Ten Labyrinth Mark can be redeemed for a single Trainer Counter.
NPC Pokémon Movepools and Stats
Lackeys know all of the level-up moves for their species, including prevolutions. They usually have a beneficial nature, and have normal stats for their species.
Midbosses have all level-up moves, including prevolution moves, along with all Egg and Tutor moves for their species. Their nature is always optimized, and they have twice the normal HP and Energy of a member of their species.
Bosses have their entire movepool at their disposal, including level-up moves, egg moves, tutors, TMs, and special moves for their species and all prior forms, across all generations. They have five times the normal HP and Energy of a Pokémon of their species, and they always have a
Regal nature, which enhances all of their stats.
Running the Labyrinth
In order to properly run the Labyrinth as a Keeper, you will need software to read a
spreadsheet. Microsoft Excel and OpenOffice Calc are the two most often-used programs for handling spreadsheets.
The spreadsheets has three main components. First is the "Delving" page - this page has everything that the player sees. The image at the top of this post shows the Delving page - it has all illuminated tiles and the status of the party's Pokémon.
The bulk of the sheet consists of "dungeon pages" - individual worksheets detailing dungeons for the players to explore. You may use the dungeons included with the spreadsheet at first, but you are encouraged to make your own unique dungeons over time.
The last sheet has tables; every Pokémon's ASB stats, along with a nature chart. You should never need to touch this; it exists so that when you type a Pokémon and Nature into one of the NPC slots on a dungeon page, you get the stats of that Pokémon automatically for easy reference.
The Labyrinth in CAP ASB
Keepers would be rewarded with 1 Business Token for every five turns that a dungeon delve takes, to a maximum of 5 BT. This is subject to adjustment by me or high-raking ASB Refs; if a Keeper tries to artificially extend their delve, action can be taken. Every time a delve is
completed, I get 1 BT.
To initiate a dungeon delve, a Keeper would design a dungeon for exploration by players. The Keeper would then post their dungeon in a rendevous thread; with a short description, expected number of players, expected level of power (for example, weakmon), and perhaps a couple of hints to the contents of a dungeon. For example, a ruin in which the Boss is a Volcarona might be described as "an abandoned temple, devoted to the worship of a sun idol".
Players looking for a dungeon to delve would browse this thread, and respond to a dungeon that catches their fancy. The player would post a response in the thread. One a Keeper has the desired number of players, she posts in the thread acknowledging her responders, and they PM three Pokémon to the Keeper. The Keeper then allows Pokémon, or rejects blatently overpowered mons (i.e. Garchomp in a weakmon dungeon). Once all teams have been approved; the Keeper makes a thread and the players begin to explore.
At a delve's conclusion; the Keeper posts rewards in the delve's thread, and then either seeks myself or an ASB Referee to eyeball the thread and the reward. Once approved in the thread; players may take their Labyrinth Marks to the Claims Thread for conversion into Trainer Counters and further rewards.
What the Labyrinth offers to CAP ASB
The Labyrinth provides a large splash of flavor to the otherwise very dry-numbers CAP ASB game. It encourages players to think in terms of their environment; and it encourages Keepers to hone their writing and creative skills. It provides a noncombat release for the interaction with a players' Pokémon.
If anything is bothering you, such as missing information or a nagging question that would keep this from being accepted; ask! I tried to be as exhaustive as possible in this post, but there's always the chance that I missed something.
